Read letters from Myoung Ho and Ji Yeon
2016
March - A Vast Vineyard of God
2015
November - Walking Joyfully with God
September - Two Personal Stories
June - A Sculpture's Witness
April - Building Relationships
Older Letters
November 2014 - Getting Started
Summer 2014 - A New Stage of Life
The 2015 Presbyterian Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 241
Myoung Ho Yang and Ji Yeon Yoo
Mission Co-Workers in Hong Kong since 2014
Serving at the invitation of Divinity School of Chung Chi College and Hong Kong Christian Council
Give to Myoung and Ji Yeon's MinistryDownload Myoung & Ji Yeon's Prayer Card
Contact: Myoung Ho Yang (myoungho.yang@pcusa.org)
Contact: Ji Yeon Yoo (jiyeon.yoo@pcusa.org)
Ji Yeon and Myoung Ho will next bee in the U.S. visiting congregations in 2016. Email them to learn about their schedule and invite them to visit your ministry.
About Myoung Ho and Ji Yeon's Ministry: The Protestant Churches of Hong Kong founded Chung Chi College in 1951 to provide higher education grounded in both Christian values and Chinese culture. In 1963 Chung Chi became one of three institutions that formed the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Its focus is on liberal arts education and “whole person development.” Chung Chi is the only constituent college of the Chinese University of Hong Kong with religious roots, and its divinity school is the only program of theological education offered within a public university in China. It grants theological degrees at the bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral levels. Myoung Ho Yang will be a professor of liturgical studies and sacred music in the divinity school, helping prepare future ministers to be effective church musicians and worship leaders. He will be supported in this ministry by his wife, Ji Yeon Yoo.
Country Context: China is the world’s most populous country and is home to the second largest economy. The Chinese culture is almost 4,000 years old and many important elements of the modern world were developed in China, including paper, credit banking, the compass, and paper money. The Communist Party came to power in 1949 and instituted a strict authoritarianism that controlled both society and the economy. By the 1980s governmental restrictions began to loosen, which resulted in the exponential growth of China’s churches and its economy. Hong Kong is a special administrative district of China that was a British colony for more than 150 years before it was ceded to China in 1997. Its transfer to China was in accordance with an 1898 agreement between the British and Chinese governments that gave the British a 99-year lease on Hong Kong and surrounding islands. Hong Kong is one of the world’s largest financial centers and is home to 7 million people. Christianity was introduced in China in 635 CE by Nestorian missionaries. Many Protestant groups, including the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), began sending missionaries to China in the 19th century.
About Myong Ho Yang and Ji Yeon Yoo: Both Myoung Ho Yang and Ji Yeon Yoo have long carried a song for mission in their hearts.
Its lyrics come from Habakkuk 2:14: “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea.” Its rhythm beats with their passion to do God’s will.
“It has long been our prayer and desire to serve as an instrument of God’s mission,” Myoung Ho says. “The words in Habakkuk have been our song.”
A call to prepare for mission service prompted their move from South Korea to the United States in the late 1990s. Myoung Ho enrolled in theological studies at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary in South Hamilton, Massachusetts, where he earned an M.Div. degree. Sensing God's leading to the ministry of teaching, Myoung Ho pursued doctoral work at Drew University’s Theological School. He completed a doctorate in liturgical studies in 2009.
Since high school Ji Yeon has sensed a call to serve in cross-cultural mission. She pursued her global interests during her college studies at Cyber Hankuk University of Foreign Studies in Seoul. Though her mission appointment to Hong Kong was years away, her choice of Chinese language as a major has proven to be a helpful one.
The road to mission service has been a long one for Myoung Ho and Ji Yeon, but they say God’s providence guided the journey. “We believe that God has opened the door for us to do this mission service in God’s perfect time,” Myoung Ho says.
Having made the transition from Korea to the United States, Myoung Ho and Ji Yeon acknowledge crossing cultural boundaries can be difficult. However, they also see the opportunity to live and minister in yet another culture as a reason to celebrate.
“Cultural differences are challenging, to be sure, but at the same time, it is a joyful thing that we can learn and enjoy the diversity of life,” Ji Yeon says. “We are grateful that God gives us an opportunity to live cross-culturally and share the love of God through our ministry.”
Myoung Ho comes to mission service with experience as a pastor, professor, and worship leader. He has been worship pastor at two congregations, Pilgrim Church in Paramus, New Jersey, and Sandol Presbyterian Church in Pine Brook, New Jersey, and pastor of the Korean congregation of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Manchester, New Hampshire. He has taught adjunctively at New York Theological Seminary, the Theological Seminary of New Jersey, and Georgia Christian University. Prior to moving to the United States, Myoung Ho earned a B.A. in accounting from Chung Ang University and an M.B.A. in international business from Yonsei University. He is a teaching elder and member of Eastern Korea Presbytery.
Ji Yeon has been involved in ministries of hospitality and Bible teaching in the churches her husband has served. Immediately prior to entering mission service, she attended the Presbyterian Church at New Providence, New Jersey.
Myoung Ho and Ji Yeon want to work alongside Chinese Christians in a quest for more faithful discipleship and a global understanding of the gospel.
“We hope the church will shine the light of the truth and play an essential role in the coming of the Kingdom of God in the world by living out the Word of God and actively engaging in world mission,” Ji Yeon says.
Birthdays:
Myoung Ho - September 23
Ji Yeon - January 7
